


Beyond Worlds comes one

by anauthorsworld00



Series: Max Harper Timeline [1]
Category: Haven (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe-ish, Gen, Original Character(s), Shapeshifter, agent howard - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-12
Updated: 2017-03-27
Packaged: 2018-09-23 15:56:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9664394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anauthorsworld00/pseuds/anauthorsworld00
Summary: Max Harper is five years old when she is first introduced to Agent Howard, although not formally. She's seven when he convinces her to leave the safety of the orphanage and seek out two others alike herself, nine when she finally reaches Haven.From there it gets weirder, she's instructed to help by an imaginary figment one who sends her postcards, but how exactly is she to help when she doesn't know how and her friends are slowly starting to think she's insane.This is the story of Max helping, yet terrorising the small town in Maine.





	1. The Grey Gull

Max scrambled over the ledge, eyes wide as she looked down at the town of Haven Maine, it was the first time she’d seen the place in person rather than only being on the postcards some Howard guy had repeatedly sent her saying it was her destiny so here she was in the flesh here to seek fate or whatever. That Howard guy had made it a point, with every postcard he sent of the quaint little town, to give orders or in his words instructions as of what to do every time she got one in the past. So on April 1st 2003 when she was seven years of age she ventured beyond the confinements of Earths many orphanages. 

She was to find two people out of so many across America, he definitely wasn’t about to make it easy for her, of course not. 

She found him first, easy enough but she was the hardest moving around a lot of the time but in about the year it took her to convince Sammy to join her on her quest in destiny she had finally found her and unlike Sammy she seemed glad to be away from her family life.

So there it was as Howard had said three of a kind all with specialities like her own, and now two years later they had reached Haven the postcards had stopped arriving though most people could have just said that it was because she was always changing addresses but that hadn’t stopped him before. The last one wasn’t what you’d expect no sincere goodbye just some last instructions and a promise that she would hear from him again. For some reason she was sad when the postcards stopped coming it was as though she had lost a kind of support in her life.

Haven wasn’t exactly as she had pictured it, the postcards had relayed a sense of tranquillity but up close it seemed chaotic and unordered. 

The only thought in her mind was finding the woman whose photograph had been paper clipped to a postcard of a bar slash pub ‘The Grey Gull’ so perhaps she would find her there if not at least it was a start and she could ask around. Sammy and Iris, weren’t quite as optimistic at finding this woman, Sammy was - to say the least - worried he’d made a horrible decision to leave home and follow a child to an unknown spot. She led them towards where she was guessing was the bar, the postcard didn’t hold a location and she figured a nine year old asking where a bar was located in the middle of a town would raise some suspicion that she heartily planned on avoiding. She had checked any areas that held businesses by water and she narrowed it down to at least three places, she divided them up between the three of them and planned a meeting spot halfway between all of them for 3pm to share any findings. She was for the first, Sammy to the second and Iris the third. 

The Grey Gull was a sight to her, it was one in the afternoon and yet there were so many people already messing around, so many had drinks in their hands, probably alcoholic beverages, she was lost between the masses of bodies. It happened to stink really bad and she turned her nose up in distaste, a bar fight broke out which Max didn’t actually find that out of character for a bar like that, stepping on her tiptoes she tried to see what was happening when someone grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the way of a flying fist that was heading straight in her direction. Hands gripped her waist hauling her out of the way so that she was perched atop of the bar counter, a man with long brown hair was looking at her peculiarly.  
“How old are you?” Max was mildly miffed by his lack of conversational skills, she was more polite and she was more than half his age. 

“My names Max thanks for asking and yours?” He chuckled lightly at her attitude before bowing his head in slight appreciation for the young girls’ maturity, despite her age, which he was still yet to discover.   
“Duke Crocker. So, Max how old are you?” Max bowed her head back, suddenly realising how out of her league she was and how Howard had pushed her here. “I’m nine.”

His eyebrows shot up comically much to her amusement. “Really? Wow! So what are you doing in a place like this? And where are your parents?” Max looked down at her fingers, tugging a folded up item from under the plastic strap of her old Captain America watch. 

“I was sent here to look for this woman.” She unfolded the photo showing it to him before continuing not allowing him to add in his own thoughts, “my parents died in a car crash when I was three my older sister, Nina brought me up for a while until she took me to an orphanage and left me there.”

He plucked the photo out of her hands peering at it over the creases in the paper, “I-I know this woman, why do you need to find her?” Max took the photo back off of him looking at it before folding it up and sliding it safely back beneath the strap, where it came from. She wasn’t about to let go of it after what happened with Nina, it also happened to be the last thing she received from Howard. 

“Alright so if you know who she is, think you can take me to her?” she asked pointedly ignoring his last question seen as she truly did not know the real reason as to why Howard wanted her to find this woman in the first place. 

“Alright one second kiddo,” he grinned at her and Max beamed, the small feeling of warmth at the term of endearment he used “Henry, I’m gonna go out, think you can handle the crowd?” The younger man saluted him from across the bar, “sure thing, boss.” Duke nodded setting his hand out in front of her as a way of warning before she put her own in his and watched as he laced their fingers together. He lifted her down from the bar and blocked the larger men from trampling her.

“Hey can we stop outside the Haven Herald at 3 my friends are supposed to meet me there?” She looked up at Duke with her big doe brown eyes, “sure thing kiddo, it’s almost 3 now and the sheriff station is only a few blocks down from the Herald and that’s where we shall be seeing your mysterious woman.” She nodded laughing as he swung her arm back and forth. 

“Oh thank god!” Iris rushed forwards Sammy in front of her, as they ignored Duke. Sammy enveloped Max in a silent hug, “calm it Sammy she’s only a couple of minutes late!” Iris laughed at the pouty look that made its way across Sammy’s face, “this is Duke he owns the bar from my postcard, he knows the girl from the photo.” 

Sammy nodded at Duke before passing an envelope with my name on the back over to Iris.

“Someone handed this to Sammy on the street, Max do you think it might be him?” 

Max opened the envelope eagerly after letting go of Dukes hand, “dunno, it’s likely considering no one ever really knows where I am except you two and him.” It was of course yet another postcard, pulling it out it wasn’t a normal postcard but instead was a homemade one, a collage of photos of people she had never seen before.

Turning it over was a couple of words in block capitals, ‘HELP THEM!!’ 

“He seems to want me to help them, but how am I supposed to do that when I still have no clue who this woman is and who any of these people are?” She looked confused up at them, politely allowing Duke to take the postcard from her, “I don’t know them but I have friends who might just know what to do in a situation like this, coming?”

“Wait, Duke these are my friends, Samuel, Sammy Granger and Iris Calder.” Max pointed them out; she found it rude in herself that she’d allowed the conversation to get so far without introducing them and for that she was ashamed. Duke nodded thoughtfully, maybe this kid wasn’t so bad not that he spent much time around kids these days, or ever really.

Making it to the sheriff’s station wasn’t much of a chore except of course the drastic attacks Iris kept going through in order to completely remain in control of what Max had managed to convince her was a gift and not a curse. Sammy’s hand was wrapped around her hand his own gift happened to control hers and to Max it was such luck that Howard had sent her to recruit these two that could possibly be the only two gifted who could cancel one another’s gifts out. Luckily it wouldn’t look as weird considering Duke and Max had also rejoined hands, with Iris and Sammy walking several paces behind them. Duke pushed open the door and held it for the three new kids to journey inside before him. 

“Okay they should be through here if not they’re on a case and its less than likely that anyone here will help me find them so I will just have to track Nathan’s phone. Sound good?” Sammy grinned at him; it was the first time that he had spent time with another male for two years.

Max lay on the floor of Chief Wuornos’ office; Duke had lay possession of the worn old desk chair behind the desk his legs propped up on top whilst Sammy and Iris were sat on the couch in the office, Iris’ hand enveloped in his. Duke threw the ball against the wall catching it in his hands, “so how old are you kids?”

Max raised an arm from where it was slung across her eyes “Nine.” Sammy looked at Iris before she answered for the both of them, “he’s twelve, I’m fifteen.” Duke looked at them about to say something when the door opened and he quickly set the ball down in its rightful place on the stand. Two people entered and Max quickly sat up, shuffling herself towards a safer area.

“Duke? What are you doing here?” Audrey looked at him sending questioning looks at the three other visitors in their office. Duke beckoned Max over and she stood up next to where he was still sat in the desk chair, “this is Max, Iris and Sammy. I thought you might want to speak to them especially about why they were looking for you.” 

Max looked up at her, so this was the woman who Howard had sent her looking for, maybe Duke was a worthy ally too but she didn’t know about the other man in the room just yet. Audrey turned to look at her to which she pulled out a folded photograph, unfolding it Max handed her dutifully over. 

“This was paper clipped to a postcard I received of Dukes bar, a man told me to come find you. I should be of some use to you for I believe you are working against something you don’t fully understand.” Max was stood tall speaking proudly with a shy edge to her voice; Nathan looked at Audrey, “does she mean the troubles?” 

Max shrugged, “I don’t know my guardian Howard sends me places to help but this is the first place really.” 

She smiled apologetically knowing it really wasn’t much of a resume to get them to accept her help.

“Howard? As in agent Howard?” Audrey asked kneeling down to be the same height as her “could be I guess. He’s just a figment from my dimension though. He found me after my parents died and my sister allowed me to go. I found out my differences when I was five and then he left me at the orphanage. Two years after that he sent me out to find Sammy and Iris. Sammy takes peoples pain, absorbs it almost and can make them feel anything he wants and Iris, Iris teleports but it’s not stable so Sammy keeps her that way. So what are these troubles you speak of?” 

Audrey shared a quick glance with Nathan before he began to explain, “Troubles are things that plague this town, they affect people but not Audrey and most of the time people can’t control them so we have to make up stories to prevent people coming to finding out and then we sort it out ourselves. It’s the best we can do.” 

Nathan wrung his hands together and Max quickly picked up on the action from many years at the orphanage, at those meet and greets they served up and the parents always had that gesture when they didn’t want her to feel bad about them not wanting her. 

“You’re worried, nervous; you don’t want us to know something. I was in an orphanage for two years, I can pick up on things like that, easy.” She hoisted herself up so she was sat on the desk feet dangling down high up above the floor. 

“Nathan’s troubled Max,” Duke said, laying a hand on her shoulder lightly, “oh how?” It was calming and simple, “it’s not so bad I just don’t feel anything, pain, heat, this cloth, my own skin, weather. Nothing.” Max frowned turning to Sammy her gaze pushing forth the same idea he happened to be thinking rather well. He let go of Iris’ hand his eyes promising not to leave her and swapped so he was no touching Nathan, touching the bare skin of his wrist. His eyes closed and suddenly Nathan was gasping, Max moved closer touching Sammy lightly on the chest where his heart would be with her left pinkie.

“He’s letting you feel, happiness, joy, sorrow, sadness, anger, fear. Everything he feels regularly.” Sammy let go, returned to his seat beside Iris letting her grip his hand tightly keeping her stable once more. Max stepped back and crossed her arms as she looked at the three of them before her, “so your friends are gifted. What about you?” Duke asked settling his hand on her shoulder comfortably, Sammy sent her a questioning glance they had only ever seen her do it once before and that was when she was trying to convince them to leave behind their families and travel around with the younger girl.

“Okay Iris? What do you think?” She shrugged, “something small, nothing too fancy it might be too much to take in if they’ve never witnessed it before.” Max gave her a light smile before she rubbed her hands together and hopped off of the table. Imagining it lightly she felt herself shift, the sensation tickling her and she let out short happy barks of laughter. Sammy let go of Iris’ hand for the second time that day, but this time for only a maximum amount of a couple of seconds as he reached down and scooped puppy Max up into his lap. 

Scratching her behind the ears he laughed when she let out several joyous barks. Iris gestured to the two of them, “it’s why she came to us, I can’t control what I have and Sammy feels so much he no longer speaks yet she has perfect control over it all and I just want to not have to rely on Sammy so much all the time when he has to prevent me from going haywire.”

Nathan nodded “well it’s been a year since Audrey first showed up so she’s supposed to be going away this year maybe Howard sent you here to help.” Max transformed back and squeezed herself between Sammy and Iris, allowing their entwined hands to settle on her lap. 

“Dunno really, I only get postcards from time to time, they’re barely ever regular and they sort of just show up out of nowhere. It’s just intuition and an extensive vocabulary that has gotten me this far and for the fact that I’m too adorable to say no to.” Audrey laughed, “So living wise, if they are staying here what have we got for them?”

“They can always move into my boat with me,” Duke supplied and Nathan sent him a weird look “what? She turned up at my doorstep and I maybe have a small attachment to the girl and anyway the boat is big enough for three large males, there is certainly more than enough room for two kids and a teenager. Sorry Sammy being twelve you’re still a year younger than a teenager.” Sammy smiled but didn’t say anything, though they didn’t really expect him to, he seemed actually happy with the prospect of living with a random stranger and the two girls he had been hopping on and off buses with for two years.

“So it’s settled then, Duke will take you guys to his boat, you can sleep off the exhaustion that I know you have and we will talk about you helping us in the morning, maybe even later if we don't have a case to worry about.” Audrey settled back against the wall, arms crossed with a light smile across her face at the prospect of this new weirdness to add to her already so strange life.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mainly a filler chapter that introduces more of Max, Iris and Sammy.

Max awoke slowly, she was a light sleeper anyone could tell you that, what with the way her hands scrunched by her sides when she felt any sort of movement by her. Duke’s heart ached for the kid as he stood by the door frame, she had broken off a chair leg while he’d been asleep and held it clutched beneath a pillow by her head. 

Her friends were lay wrapped around one another on the small single bed he had provided for the three children but Max, Max lay by their feet like a loyal guard dog, except she was human and a young one at that, she shouldn't have to protect those she cares for. 

Standing at a safe distance away he rapped lightly on the open door, her eyes shot open and the jagged edge of the chair leg was as much in his face as she could reach in her small stature. She blinked trying too get her bearings before she withdrew her weapon and took a few dismayed steps backwards so she was still in front of her friends but trying not to pose any threat. 

“Sorry,” her voice was small and she kept her eyes trained on the ground ears perking slightly as she listened to her friends move on the bed behind her, “its alright kid.”

“What happened?” Iris asked looking now at the people in the doorway and by her feet, moving to the discarded wooden chunk she lay her head back down on the pillow, “we’ll pack our stuff and leave right away, I’m very sorry.”

“No you won’t, I understand the need to protect and Max didn't hurt me.” 

The girls eyes snapped up to him staring into the eyes of his that danced with mischief, “w-what?”

“You heard me kids, stay. Honestly I expected some hostility, a strange man offers you refuge on his boat and you accepted it willingly. Now come on, Nathan and Audrey are waiting out on the deck for the three of you so we can maybe figure out why you were sent to this backwoods town.” He knocked lightly on the door before leaving.

Max dressed quickly, she dint own much some of the space she had given up in her pack was for items Sammy and Iris couldn't quite manage to live without. She pulled on an oversized mens t-shirt her arm sliding awkwardly through a hole that wasn't the arm hole. The shorts she had stole fell below her knees looking almost like pants and she secured the waistband with a rope she found beneath the bed. Her shoes were wrecked with her growing feet falling out of the front and bits of the sole falling apart, she hadn't realised just how bad she looked in that moment. 

Iris and Sammy looked a hell of a lot better than she did for sure, Sammy’s shoes were wholesome and Iris still had comfortable looking floral print vest shirts and short shorts that made her look significantly better than Max all in all. 

She made her way out onto the deck, hands in her pockets under the image of nonchalance but she was really just trying to keep her pants up. “So what are we doing?”

“Well we were going to get you signed up at the school, but I think the first thing we need to do is get you some new clothes.” Audrey smiled down at the young girl who was distractedly tucking the shirt into the shorts.

Nathan turned to Audrey his voice low, “just how much does this kid do?” He looked at the doorway where Sammy and Iris had just walked through, “look at her, the clothes are obviously not hers and yet the others have nicer clothes, she’s nine.”

“School is a good idea, Max took some online college courses a little bit ago but she will need this, Sammy already graduated high school and I come from a family of carnies so I’ve been homeschooled likely improperly most of my life. Only Max needs new clothes, we couldn't put you out of the money when the three years we’ve been together she has done so much to keep us comfortable so we wouldn't leave her.” Max gaped at the older sister figure she had, she had never realised her friend held her with such a high regard.

“Well there is a college just a couple miles down we can get some of you situated in but Max you will have to go to the school we cant get you around that.” The little girl shrugged, she had survived much worse than school but she really hadn't been in the system since she was seven so what would she know.

Iris and Sammy declined accompanying them to the store with Max, to some extent she felt betrayed and abandoned but she knew the two of them held a more distinct bond with the way they helped one another and there was nothing she could have done to distract them from that. 

Max hovered close to Duke, trusting the still unfamiliar man much more than either of the two officers in her presence. Nathan ushered them into a small shop that made Max’s hyper sensitive nose screw up at the sudden whiff of a strange cloud of air freshener. A little too much for her tastes.

“Just pick up anything you like and then we will show you the changing rooms,” Audrey explained to her and she only nodded in acknowledgment. She moved throughout the racks, a couple of t-shirts one flannel and a pair of long jeans in hand she returned to the three of them.

“Alright kid, go on ahead I’m gonna pass you over some more stuff tell me if you like it try it on then I’ll see what sneakers this little place has for you.” She nodded in appreciation as Duke shuffled over to Audrey by the dressing rooms.

Max felt awkward as she was handed the clothing bags, no-one had ever treated herself this good since her parents died and her sister gave her over to agent Howard, she felt someone pat her on the shoulder and she smiled weakly up at Duke as they climbed into the back of Nathan’s truck. 

“To the school then.” Nathan muttered looking over at their new companion in the back of the truck. 

Max approached the desk where the women beckoned to her from, “we just need to ask you some questions before we can admit you into school, your name miss?”

“Maxine Harper,”

“Age and birthday?”

“9, I don’t know my birthday, I measure it off hen we move into the next year.”

“Parent or guardian?”

“Parents are dead, guardian is legally Nina Harper my elder sister but I was unofficially adopted by FBI Agent Howard. Currently if you are asking for medical purposes I would say my friends Iris and Sammy would be my emergency contacts.” 

Duke lay his hand on her shoulder after seeing the receptionists unhappy gaze, “you can put me down on that too then miss, Duke Crocker.”

“Alright, prior education?”

“I was in school until I was seven and between then and now I have spent some time teaching myself bits and pieces, I've taken online courses where I could.”

“I’ll put you with the fourth graders then.”

“Is there a uniform or dress code?”

“No, nothing, just nothing too revealing which from looking at you, I don't think it will be a problem.”

“Thats a good thing then, would have meant we should have come to here before shopping, thank you for placing me here.”

“No worries, see you tomorrow Max.”

 

Max curled up at the end of the couch in Nathan and Audrey’s office, they were on the phones separately and both were giving off similar vibes of sweatiness, she turned and looked at them. Nathan was looking at Audrey while she spoke on the phone to a man she was referring to as ‘Chris’, she chuckled as she picked up on the unspoken words Nathan held for the woman before them.

There was a quick rap on the door and Max swung her head to attention, Duke stood with a mischievous grin angled towards the two officers. “Come on kid, your friends are back at my boat, they had thought I had abandoned you somewhere and had threatened my existence.”

“Sorry,” she followed him out of the door, and out into his truck.

She was swamped by Iris and Sammy as soon as she got onto the deck unaware of the floaty look duke had upon his face at seeing such love between youngsters. “Come on, kids, this one has got to get up early for school and I have the Grey Gull to maintain.”

Max nodded in response to his reasoning and Iris and Sammy didn't complain, she followed her friends into the room he had provided them with. Her friends curled up by the head of the bed where she settled at the foot once more prepared to watch over them to the best of her ability until morning came around.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first published work on here so I hope it fares well, its to be the start of a series I've been working on for a while to be a crossover bonanza of sorts for little Max Harper to deal with.
> 
> I'm an A-level student at the moment with three Maths exams coming up in the next ten weeks so if anyone is expecting an update straight away I can't promise anything.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed what you read, I enjoy writing it so thats all that really matters to me, your lots opinions are the icing on the cake.


End file.
